The Pistons vs. The Lakers

The 6-9 #Pistons host the 8-8 Los Angeles Lakers Friday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons lost their first meeting with the Lakers this season 99-114. The Pistons would like to bounce back after failing to with their third straight Wednesday night against the Bulls.

The good: Rodney Stuckey has been the bright spot of the Pistons season coming off the bench and scoring at will. Stuckey is averaging a team-best 16.6 points per game.

The thing the Pistons should be concerned about it that the guys they brought in to score aren’t doing the job. When your leading scorer comes off the bench there is a problem.

The bad: Detroit offense had only 26 second-half points against the Chicago and went scoreless in the final stretch of the game. They need to get more production out of their Big Three if they plan on beating the Lakers. Detroit has lost nine of the last 12 games against the Lakers, but have won seven of the last 11 at The Palace Of Auburn Hills. Despite being on the road, intensegambling.com thinks that if the Lakers Gasol has a big game, they are likely to get the win.

The unknown: Will the Pistons need to keep Jordan Hill locked down? He led the Lakers with 24 points and 17 boards in their last meeting.
Chauncey Billups is still listed as day-to-day.

The I can’t stand: Lakers fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills that are louder than Pistons fans.

Stat: Andre Drummond still leads the NBA in field goal percentage with 65.9%Imagine what Dre could do if they start running plays for him.Stat: Rodney Stuckey leads the Eastern Conference in bench scoring, averaging 15.9 off the bench.

You can still get a great ticket to tonight’s game, but it you want to stay in my good graces don’t wear a Lakers jersey. Offer Code: gopistons

Tip off is at 7:30 pm and will be broadcast on Fox Sports . If you can’t catch the game on TV, catch it on the radio over at 97.1 The Ticket.

I like Cheeks, and I think the players do as well, but this one is on him. And his bench.

The guys off the bench didn’t deliver aside from Stuckey, could see that already in the 1st half. CV, JH, Singler, Siva were not the answer. Then to play the starters to death clearly didn’t work till the end.

26pts outside the paint in 48 mins, and a DNP Coach’s des. on Gigi (sharpshooting Italian League MVP) and 14 mins on KCP?

CV isn’t the shooter you were looking for Mo – you want to stretch the floor for your bigs to operate, not stretch the floor with your bigs. JH showing similar tendencies. Rebound numbers are good as you have guys in the paint to begin with. 2nd chance and points in the paint as well.